About the Farm

Barton Hill Farms

Here at Barton Hill Farms we are dedicated to providing fun, outdoor events for our Central Texas neighbors. We recognized an opportunity to build a farm and outdoor entertainment venue that provides fun, engaging and educational events for Central Texas families. The Fall Festival & Corn Maze, our inaugural event, incorporates Texas heritage, traditional autumn fun, agriculture and live Texas Country music to create an experience the enitre family can enjoy.

The Farmers

Andrew Taft

Andrew is a merchant mariner, licensed captain, sail training instructor, and commercial fisherman by trade. During the summer months he travels north to the icy waters of Bristol Bay, Alaska to fish the largest sustainable wild Sockeye Salmon run in the world[See youtube for his cameo appearances in the John Deere hat]. Andrew’s family has a long history on the seas, dating back to his great grandfather who owned clipper ships in the 1800′s that delivered granite from the eastern seaboard to South America and returned loaded down with hard wood. In the off-season, Andrew lives in Austin and handles operations at Barton Hill Farms. Andrew’s path back to “terra firma” follows a long history of seafarers who lay awake in their storm tossed bunks dreaming of planting their feet on solid ground and digging in the dirt.

Craig Swanson

Craig was raised in a farming and ranching family with deep roots in agricultural businesses in South Texas. After graduation from Texas A&M, he began careers in commercial real estate and entrepreneurship but always longed to ditch the desk job and get back to his roots in agriculture. Given the uncertainty of farming and ranching, Craig looked for an opportunity that had agriculture elements without the risk of droughts, high capital costs and market volatility. The perfect opportunity arose when he met Andrew and the two put the pieces together to build a business that teaches others about agriculture. Craig and his wife Pamela, along with their son Grady, look forward to enjoying an agriculture lifestyle and Barton Hill Farms for years to come.

Interns

A team of interns including Joel Lipson, Lauren Aldana and Brittany Lambertus are highly involved in supporting Barton Hill Farms operations, providing marketing and production assistance at the farm.